Not So Alone
by LoveUnderTheStars
Summary: On the outside, Tomoya was never one to care about where his life went. However, on the inside, he always wanted to change himself; All it would probably take was for someone to recognize him as a person rather than just a delinquent. KyouXTomoya
1. A Sad Existence and A Chance Encounter

Not So Alone

Chapter 1: A Sad Existence and a Chance Encounter

Summary: On the outside, Tomoya was never one to care about where his life went. However, deep within himself, he always wanted to change himself; he just lacked the motivation or the force needed to push himself higher. All it would probably take was for someone to recognize him as a person rather than just a delinquent; certainly, he did not expect that any time soon.

Disclaimer: In no way do I dare own Clannad or any of its characters. Doing so would ruin the awesomeness that is Clannad. Also, if you don't like OC characters, you have been warned that the OC character plays an important role in this story. You have been warned.

**Edit: Sorry to disappoint those looking for a new chapter, but after looking at my chapter again, I decided to extend this chapter because it seemed the ending was too abrupt for just a chapter. So yeah, please continue waiting patiently for the next chapter. I promise you won't regret it. **

Junior Year - Spring

The world is a cold, cruel place. A place where the weakest of hearts succumb to the never-ending stresses of society. Ever-rising expectations and multiple deadlines are some of what life in high school has in store for those seeking higher education. Nagging teachers and doting parents made sure you kept up with the material at school. Absolutely no peace of mind exists for those who work hard to succeed and eventually graduate to a good-standing university. It is a certainty these hardships are not going to end at high school; perhaps, they are just the start of a mountain of problems that will bury you alive while you foolishly attempt to balance it all.

How troublesome. I'd rather much stay in my warm bed and sleep. At least, that's what I would like to say, but I know I can't very well sleep the entire day away. Even a delinquent like me would like to amount to something one day; I don't want to stay like this forever.

However, with all that I've gone through in my life, why should I even bother to try? My mom died in a car crash when I was young. I don't even remember her face. Because of her death, my good-for-nothing father drowned himself in despair and alcohol. He continues to neglect my very existence to this day and treats me like I'm some distant acquaintance he met some time ago. Nothing hurts more than feeling like you don't even belong in your own family. He doesn't treat me like a son; he doesn't feel like a father to me. I feel like I don't have a place to go home to; after all, why would I want to be in a place where the atmosphere is constantly tense and awkward? Some loving support I have from what little remains of my family...

*sigh* Just thinking about the state of my so-called family depresses me; the brooding atmosphere of this house does nothing to improve my state of mind either. The rays of sunlight that peek through my window curtains make my room more dreary than normal. I hastily throw the sheets off of me and get dressed for school. I need to get out of this house, now; I can't stand being here any longer.

I go the bathroom to make myself more presentable and freshen up. I try to do all this as quietly as possible; after all, I can't be waking up my old man, can I? As I peer downstairs, I see nothing but darkness. It doesn't seem there is any sign of life down there. As silent as possible, I creep down the stairs. Each step, I listen for any indication that the old man may have woken up.

"..." Nothing, so far.

The last thing I want to do is run into "him." As I continue to traverse down the stairs, I can barely make out where everything is: the table, the TV, multiple other junk just lying around this God forsaken house... The mere thought of this house clenches my heart and almost makes it hard to breathe; it's as if something is suffocating me. The air here is stale and further proves to me how dead this place really is to me. I hate this place. I really hate this place.

"_Note to self: clean up around here once in a while._" It definitely would make things easier around here for me. Navigating through all the junk without making a single noise proved to be a bit of a task.

"Shit!" I yell as I nearly stumble onto the floor. Because I was deep in thought, I almost tripped on something by the door. Peering closer, I could see it was the last thing I wanted to see: my father. Apparently, he had collapsed in the corner, surrounded by multiple beer bottles. The sight of him like this still makes me sick to my stomach to this day. I thought I would be used to seeing this pathetic sight, but seeing someone you used to consider your father kinda makes it hard to be indifferent towards him completely, huh?

I quietly scoff as I step over his body. I slide open the door and walk through the threshold of this living hell. I promptly shut the door and finally take my first breath of fresh air.

(Line Break Here)

As I let my entire body relax, I aimlessly walk with no particular destination in mind. As if my feet had a mind of their own, they end up bringing me to the bottom of the hill; my school lies at the top of this steep hill. My thoughts scatter after realizing how early it is: 7:00 AM. It's certainly too early to go to the school and going before it even opens would only depress me more. This is why I hate waking up early... There's nothing to do nor do I have anyone to pass time with. So, with no other choice, I decide to sit myself at the base of one of the trees that line the sidewalk. The air gently blows on this beautiful spring morning. Sakura petals slowly drift from the branches above me, giving this scenery a more surreal atmosphere. This is relaxing; it truly, truly is; turning my head upwards, I slowly gaze at the sky as my eyes begin to close.

My eyes suddenly opened; I had no idea I had even dozed off. Then again, it's not much of a surprise considering how much this scenery was so relaxing. I look at my watch to see it is 7:45 AM. I see a couple of other students walking past me; they pay no mind to me, and it's as if I'm not even there. I'm used to this already; no one wants anything to do with a delinquent anyways. This is no different than any other day. I sigh as I slowly get up and brush the dirt off my pants.

Eh? I feel like someone is looking at me. I scan the immediate area and find my eyes crossing with those of another guy. His dark brown eyes seem to have a hint of curiosity as they stare back at me. His short black hair seem to blow slightly in the wind as they seem to dance in front of his eyes. He's wearing a small black backpack that seems to hug his back. By the badge on his jacket, he's a junior like me, but his face doesn't seem to be familiar to me at all. This seems to go on for a little bit until I wave my hand casually to him. His eyes widen, then his mouth breaks into a big grin and starts waving back a little bit. Grabbing my bag, I turn to approach the stranger.

"Yo. What are you looking at?" I asked. After all, it's not often I have people staring at me out of sincere curiosity.

"Oh." He laughs. "Just was surprised to see someone taking a nap underneath a tree. It's the first time I've ever seen anyone do that. Also, you're wearing the same jacket as the rest of us, so I figured you went to the same school as the rest of us. Don't mind me too much." He laughs again nervously as he scratches his left cheek.

I was a bit skeptical of this new person; he seemed too... how do you put it... nice? No one seemed to even give a damn about me before; either they would scatter at the mere sight of me or out right ignore me. Either way never left me feeling in a good mood, no matter how many times it happened. Yet, here is someone trying to have a conversation with me. What an interesting person.

"Well, don't get used to it." I bluntly stated. "If you ask around, you'll see it's a rare sight to see me up even remotely close to this time." He looked confused and at the same time surprised as I said this.

"You mean, you tend to oversleep?" He genuinely asks.

"More or less."

"Why?"

"Why should I have to answer such a question to someone I just met today for the first time?" I reply sharply. He jumps back a little.

"Eep, sorry. Just curious. You're not going to hold that against me, are you?" He kinda cowers, but still stands his ground. He really doesn't know who he's talking to, does he?

"What I find strange is why you're suddenly talking to me, a complete stranger who goes to your school." Something about this conversation and encounter in general seems a little off to me. Maybe it's just the first time someone went out of his way to talk to a person like me. He puts his hand to his chin and stares upwards.

"Hmmm. You just seemed to be an interesting guy. I don't know why, just call it a feeling." What a vague answer. Who is this guy?

His eyes widen as he scrambles to look at his watch. He then turns his attention to me.

"Sorry I have to cut this chat off so quickly, but it's almost 8:00! We'd better hurry, if we don't want to be late!"

I wave my hand as to dismiss his last statement. "Feh. It doesn't mean much to me. You go on ahead; I'll probably see you around. Besides, you seem to be a stickler for time anyway, the absolute opposite of me."

His eyes narrow in concern, as if contemplating something. "Well, if that's the way it's going to be..." He pauses. "See ya!" Then, in a blur, he rushes up the hill, dodging people along the way. I forgot to ask about his name. Meh, it doesn't matter too much to me. I scratch the back of my head as I watch that strange individual disappear from sight. I sigh; I might as well get a move on and move up the hill myself. No use standing here like an idiot. I stare up the hill again.

(Line Break Here)

As I walk this seemingly never-ending road, I mutter, "Ugh, why did the school gates have to be so far up this damn hill?" The wind began to pick up as a response, scattering loose sakura petals from the trees around me. It seemed like I was being engulfed in a vortex of pink as I continued to walk. The wind softly caressed my face as the wind blew all around me; it felt so refreshing. Not paying attention to the path that lays in front of me, I stare into the blue, endless sky. For one of the rare moments in my life, I was at peace. Staring at the sky always makes me feel insignificant, and my problems don't seem as daunting as I would use to think.

I can see and hear the chirping of birds flying freely in the sky. They glided along the wind currents and flew so freely in the vast sky; they had no limits to where they could go or what they could do. Makes me wonder if I will be able to make something of myself one day; will I be able to be something that's worthy in people's eyes? As my thoughts wander into the memories of my dreary past, I can see all the fights I've gotten into with my dad, all the cold stares that others would give me if they would glance in my direction, the sadness that would fill my heart at the thought of being alone... I could ever feel tears beginning to build up; I shake my head. Tears wouldn't do anything for me now; it's far too late for any of that.

"Getting into such a negative mood before school even starts. Something must be really wrong with me today." I sighed silently. I've been sighing too much; it's becoming such an annoying habit. Am I really that unhappy with my life?

At that moment, the school bell rings. Bringing me out of my thoughts, I'm brought back into the present. In front of me were the school gates; how did I manage to get up here? Even more so, why did I feel like that the walk up the hill was much shorter than usual? I stare behind me at the hill and then stare back at the school. I shake my head once more; I'm just over-thinking things. "Might as well get inside. No use being late if I'm already here." I say to myself. I sprint through the main doors, quickly take off my shoes, and put on the indoor shoes that were already in my locker. As I race past the gymnasium, I can hear quite the commotion going on inside. It must be the freshmen coming to the school this spring. From what I can hear, there are quite a lot of them too this year. Focusing on getting to my classroom in time, I raced up the stairs to the second floor. I finally stopped in front of a door: 2-3. I briefly took a short breath of air and calmly walked in the classroom as much as possible.

The moment I walked in, it seemed the focus of current interest was on me. I could hear gossips of disbelief and surprise of my presence at this hour. Some people had the audacity to even stare at me; I threw a glare to those people to dissuade any more stares at me. Most had immediately turned towards the front of the classroom and stared downwards; yet, some even chanced a glance in my direction when they thought I wasn't looking. Was it seriously that much of a surprise to see me here at 8:00 in the morning? Wait a second, yeah, of course it is! Still, people didn't have to make a scene about it; people are just annoying like that. I put my head on my arms and let my eyes just wander outside.

I am now a junior that goes to Hikarizaka High School. People hold this particular high school in high regard for being the best in the area; also, this school is well renown for its encouragement of sports and clubs. I used to play basketball but after a particular incident, I was unable to play basketball anymore. Giving it up was one of the hardest things to do. I hate all the people who immerse themselves in clubs and sports. Damn them for being able to enjoy what they do most; I became bitter to any and all who had anything to do with sports or clubs. Of course, this did nothing to help improve my mindset towards people in general.

The ringing of the bell that signals the start of homeroom brings me out of my lazy stupor. With half-dazed eyes, I look around and see the homeroom teacher walking in. The excited chatter of the students around me dies down as the teacher begins to announce some announcements, probably having to do with how we should act this year and what other nonsense that he probably is obligated to say. Ugh, teachers annoy me.

"Class representative, if you please." the teacher says. A chair scoots back; I turn my head instinctively to see a girl with long flowing hair and a white ribbon near her left ear stand up from her seat. Her hair seems to float as she stands up, and her eyes seemed to sparkle as she was called.

"Stand." Everyone almost immediately does so. I kinda lag behind, but I don't think anyone else notices.

"Bow." Everyone bows at the exact same time. This is so annoying. Why do we do this again?

Everyone takes their seat again as the teacher leaves. With only a matter of minutes before the first period begins, I once again glance at the class representative. Her purple eyes really complemented her amethyst hair and seemed to exude a regal or even a superior aura around her. The white ribbon only added to how attractive she already was. Her body seemed really slender and seemed to hint that she was was somewhat athletic. She was happily chatting with one of her friends next to her, and her eyes still retained that sparkle that I saw earlier. I was kind of envious of how carefree and happy someone could be... That sparkle was kind of contag-

She suddenly looks at me square in the eye. My eyes widen, and my face flushes slightly at the thought of being caught admiring someone. I stumble and turn to face towards the front of the room, trying to make it seem like I wasn't staring at her for too long or too intently. While staring forward, my eyes slowly chance a glance at her on my peripheral view. Her eyes seemed to have lost all signs of that sparkle that used to be predominant in her eyes before; rather, now they were stormy and seemed to issue a challenge to keep looking at her. My eyes dart forward once again, and I decide that looking at anything outside was much more appealing than anything going on in the classroom. I can still feel her eyes on me as it bores heavily on my back; I can't shake this cold and dreadful feeling that her eyes seemed to be imposing on me. How can the same pair of eyes hold such brilliance and such frigidity at the same time?

My thoughts freeze as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see the same pair of eyes that were in my mind right in front of me. Is it me or do I somehow see raging flames behind her? Her mouth is in a simple grim line, and her hands are on her hips as if demanding an explanation. Her entire body seems to loom over my very existence. My voice doesn't seem to be responding, and nothing but hoarse sounds seem to escape from my mouth. My entire body involuntarily shudders at this sight. What the hell is she? The silence between us seems to go on forever and it would've probably ended that way too if she hadn't spoken up first...

"What were you looking at, huh?" her voice harsh and unfeeling. Great, what have I gotten myself into? Such misfortune.


	2. Explanations and A New Student

Not So Alone

Chapter 2: Explanations and a New Student

**Disclaimer: Unless for some odd reason Kyoto Animation or Key read this fic and decide to hire me to help make another Clannad OVA, I do not own Clannad, its characters, or anything pertaining to the Clannad universe. (Though, a guy can dream, can't he?)**

Authors Note:In case those of you that might not have noticed, I have extended Chapter 1 due to my self-nagging of how I felt the chapter should have ended. So, you're all practically seeing a new chapter and a half! Also, sorry for the slow updates; writing fanfiction really is difficult to maintain while keeping up with studies. Then again, if others can do it, I'll try my very best too! Now, enough with the boring AN, let's get on with the new chapter!

"_What were you looking at, huh?" her voice was harsh and unfeeling. Great, what have I gotten myself into? Such misfortune. _

My thoughts seemed to replay what just happened merely moments ago. Why do I feel so intimidated by her? Rather, doesn't she know who she's talking to? Haha, that almost makes me feel like I'm a monster or something.... hey, wait a sec! Where the heck is my thought process going?

My eyes flash back to the present to find my situation getting progressively worse. She seems to be getting irritated by my lack of a response; heck, I can ever hear the sound of a feral growl escaping from her mouth. Shit! What the heck do I do? What the heck do I even say? That I was staring at her because she was attractive? Because she seemed easy on the eyes? That's just going to get me beat up or hell even worse...

I quickly glance at the window... I really wish we weren't on the second floor or else I'd be able to jump out to safety. As of right now, I don't feel like putting my life in jeopardy for a foolhardy stunt like that. I'd probably dupe Sunohara into doing that later or something... hehe, that'd be pretty entertaining... Wait! This is no time to be thinking like that! My life's in danger right now!

I can hear the cracking of knuckles as she seems to prepare to punch the lights out of whatever life I seem to have left. Her face seems extremely disgruntled and aggravated. "_Great, just great Tomoya! You just had to look at her a little too intently, didn't you? You can't even keep yourself in check around other girls! You're such an idiot! A Huge IDIOT!" _

My thoughts seem to rampage in this direction for a while as I made excuse after excuse of why I deserve what was going to happen. Without bothering to even defend myself with a half-assed excuse, I seemed to resign to my inevitable fate as I closed my eyes. The last thing I see is her fist winding up...

"_It'll be over soon, won't it? Yeah, it will be... I just hope she's merciful enough to grant me that at least..._"

…

"_**WHO AM I KIDDING?!? I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!**_" With little choice left, I wave my hands in front of me frantically as I yell,

"You're pretty!! I was just looking at you because you were pretty!!" Great, that just had to slip out didn't it? So much for my dignity or the image I had to uphold. I shut my eyes, awaiting the monstrous assault that her eyes seemed to promise so clearly.

One second passes....

Two second passes....

Three second passes...

"Huh?" I murmur softly. Nothing? Nothing's happening... What happened? I decide to chance it and open my eyes to find a surprising sight in front of me.

A blush. A blush seemed to envelop her entire face... well, at least from what I could see... her fist was practically inches from my face after all. A bead of sweat trickles down from my forehead down the side of my face. I could've sworn I saw an image of a silver-haired girl smiling at me holding a lunch box while cherry blossoms float around her flash before my eyes. I shake my head vigorously; I've never seen that girl before but yet she looks so familiar to me for some odd reason.

At any rate, I need to get myself out of this potentially dangerous situation, in particular... this fist before my face. I try to scoot my chair back and walk around her. She seemed to be frozen in place, as if she were a statue. I wave my hand in front of her face, only to have no effect. I'm getting worried; everyone is staring at us. I exchange glances with the person that this purple-haired girl was talking to; she's looking at me with an indifferent look as her crimson eyes seem to bore into mine. She's giving off an impression that she wants nothing to do with this situation but yet at the same time wants to help her friend out.

As she breaks off eye contact with me, she walks towards the frozen statue that resembles her friend. As her long red hair flutters behind her, perhaps it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but it seemed to me that small embers emanated from her hair each time she took a step. There's no way that could possibly happen... right?

She casually knocks her friend on the back of the head; it does the trick as the person suddenly unfreezes and suddenly becomes self-aware of her own surroundings. Her eyes dart around and take in everyone's odd stares; she blushes madly even more and decides to direct her stare at me once again.

Man, her stare is completely overwhelming me and makes the atmosphere heavier than I've ever experienced before. She's slightly shaking her fists, as her eyes try shut to control the apparent anger and humiliation building up inside her. To make things worse, her red-haired friend exacts her stare on me as well. However, there is no sense of ill intent compared to her friend, who I can tell practically wants to murder me; in fact, she seems rather intrigued and a bit amused at these recent turn of events. This situation is not looking any better for me, and I am seriously beginning to fear for my life. At no time have I felt a killer intent as intense as this girl's...

"Oi! What is everyone standing around for?! Take your seats or you'll spend your first afternoon after school in detention! Now, get to it!" Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the teacher who had just walked in, and their bodies seemed to move on their own instinctively as everyone hastily took their seats. The only ones still standing were the two girls in front of me and myself. The teacher states,

"Is there something you didn't understand about my last statement...? Or perhaps you really do want to spend detention after school today?" I really could care less about detention; like I've mentioned, I have nothing to do outside of school anyways. I casually walk back to my seat in the back of the room next to the windows. The two girls walk past me, and I could've sworn I heard from the purple haired girl, "We will settle this later." The red-haired girl did nothing but smirk as she walked past me, but I still felt a chilling sensation from her.

When I got to my seat, I released a breath of air I didn't even know I was holding back. That was seriously a dangerous situation I barely got out of. Who would've thought that a teacher would be my saving grace? He had my gratitude, be it only for today, so I decided to pay attention what he had to say.

"Alright, since everyone's settled down now, I'd like to introduce a transfer student that will be joining our class from this day onward. Oi! You can come in now!" He bellowed. Everyone's attention seemed to converge on the sliding door at the front of the room.

A hand slowly emerged as it gripped the door, and the face of the new transfer student had come into view. His black hair mostly covered his eyes, so it was hard to make out any features.... hold on!

"EH!? It's you!!" I yelled as I stood up from my chair. The transfer student's eyes widen as it locates the source of the outburst; his eyes makes contact with mine.

"Ah, hello! Funny running into you here!" He responds cheekily. I can tell he's seriously happy to see someone he recognizes at the beginning of his first day, but still his overflowing positive attitude rubs me the wrong way. Don't ask me why, it just does.

"Okazaki!" The teacher yells. "Do you have a problem with this particular person or something? If not, sit your ass down and shut up!" Ouch. That's harsh. This must be a new teacher or something because I sure as hell don't remember a teacher like him before. Oh well, I'm glad there is someone out there that actually treats me like a regular person... though, it's not the kind of attitude I'm particularly looking for, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get.

"Now as I was saying before someone decided to be a smart-ass and disrupt the class..." The teacher glares at me momentarily. "We have a new transfer student." He gestures to the transfer student. "Introduce yourself to everyone."

"Hello, my name is Kawazoe Ichiro.(1) Nice to meet everyone. I like to play tennis, and I love meeting new people. I hope to get along with everyone as well as I can." He courteously bows as he finishes. Wow, that was such a classic and plain introduction. The teacher concludes,

"Everyone, please try to be helpful in any way during his first days as he gets used to the way things run around here." The whole class rings in a resounding "HAI!!!" in response.

"Now, Kawazoe-san, please take your seat in front of Okazaki who I feel you are already familiar with already. If he should give you any trouble, do not hesitate to contact me or any of the other teachers, you understand?" He simply nods his head in response. "Well, so long as you understand. Be seated." He obediently takes the seat in front of me; when seated, he turned around for a brief moment, waved at me, and smiled.

"Heh." I simply turn away and just raise my hand a little to wave at him. He smiled once again and then turned back towards the front of the class. This may be an interesting year after all.

(Line Break Here)

First period really was a bore. This past hour has been absolutely hell for me. I hate math; I hate anything that has to do with numbers in general. However, that didn't seem to be the case for Ichiro here. He was all too enthusiastic about answering questions whenever the teacher asked for a volunteer to help answer a question.

There was that same sparkle I saw in that one girl's eyes... Speaking of, I looked at the girl since the confrontation we had earlier. She seemed to be too concentrated with the teacher's lectures to notice that I was looking at her at this time. That's good; the last thing I would want is another reason for her to hate me more than she already did.

A glint in the other girl's eyes caught my eye though, and it only served to frighten me even more as she smirked at me when we made eye contact. She shook her head slightly in mock annoyance and began to take notes once more. My eyes widen at the implication of the smirk: I had been caught looking over there again. I unconsciously hit my head against my desk, earning plenty of looks from everyone as they heard the clunk of my head. The teacher turned around and looked over his shoulder, his hand frozen in place on the chalkboard.

"Okazaki? Are you ok? You've been acting strange since class has started. Maybe you should go to the washroom and splash some water on your face or something." The wisest piece of advice I've ever heard my entire life. Odd how this is the same teacher that was practically talking down to me an hour earlier. I take this as an opportunity to get out of class for a bit and get out of that stifling atmosphere.

"Please excuse me." I say as I scoot out from my chair and walk along the back of the classroom. I glanced at the purple-haired girl, but all I got was a scowl; that kind of stings a little for some reason. The red-haired girl pays no mind to me at first but watches me with minute interest as I walk out of the classroom.

The hallways are empty at this time, but I can hear other teachers giving out their lectures to other students. The rays of sunlight filter into the hallway from the windows, giving the hallway a more ethereal feeling. I can see the wind slowly blow through the trees in the courtyard below; man, I'd rather much be outside than cooped up inside this stuffy building. As tempting as it would be to skip class, I only have 30 minutes or so left before the next period, so it wouldn't make sense to skip now. Besides, I would almost feel a slight pang of guilt if I skipped this particular teacher's class.

After wandering for a little bit, I finally reach the washroom. Compared to the well-lit hallways, the washroom seemed so much more dreary. The only sources of light were the small rays of sun peeking through the small window near the ceiling and the dim artificial lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling. I approached one of the many sinks and put my hands together under the faucet; I splashed cold water onto my face as I look at myself in the mirror.

"What the heck am I doing acting like I've been this morning?" I mumble. Today has been a really odd day... the new transfer student, those two girls, my incessant negative attitude... I seriously am beginning to doubt my sanity, and I know if it gets to that, I'm approaching my breaking point. I stare at this pathetic sight in the mirror in silence. Is this how I really am? Is this what I'm going to end up like in the near future?

"Something wrong, Okazaki-san?" A voice abruptly shatters the silence. I swiftly turn around to punch the sudden intruder, but much to my surprise, it was caught and deflected aside with minimum to no effort. I squint to see that it was no other than Kawazoe.

"My, my. Someone's on edge today. You really aren't feeling your best today, are you?" He remarks. Something's different about him, as if he's a different person. He's acting a little too confident... That smug attitude is beginning to piss me off...

"What do you want, Kawazoe?" I ask bluntly.

"Well, I wanted to use the washroom myself but to also check up on you as well. You're kind of a worrisome case the way you are right now. I can just tell this isn't normally how you act, right?"

Ok, scratch that. He's pissed me off, thinking he knows everything to me when we've only just met.

"Yeah? Well, don't worry about me too much. I can take care of myself just fine. Just leave me alone." I attempt to storm out of the washroom.

"Okazaki." I stop mid-step. "Whatever is going through that head of yours, it's seriously troubling you if you're acting irrationally because of a simple conversation like this." I turn around slowly, eying his body language and movement as he spoke. "Okazaki, I know I'm probably not that much of a pleasant person to you at the moment, but it's not going to do either of us any good if we just dance around whatever problems we have. Please, I want to be your friend. It'd be pretty cool if we became friends, don't you think?" He smiles faintly.

I stare at him for a couple of moments and slowly face forward again. "Perhaps. It would be. You're one of the first to talk to me in this manner. It's different. You make it sound like you care about someone you just met today." He stays silent. I continue,

"I apologize, it's just too sudden and foreign for me for someone to just care about a person like me. Like you said earlier, don't mind me too much." I turn around to face him again and smile a little bit. His eyes seemed to be in deep contemplation for a little while, but then he gave me a thumbs up, showing that he understands as best as he could.

This time, I calmly walk out. The echoes of my footsteps reverberate loudly in the washroom. That's not the only thing that echoes in my head. His words of comfort and his promise of friendship echoed in my head the loudest... Sure, to anyone else, having a friend wouldn't be such a big deal, but to me, for someone who has been an outcast, a delinquent, and ultimately a loner, friendship is something that means much more to me. For the first time today, I felt a little bit lighter and a little bit happier, despite how my life was for the longest time. Yes, this year would definitely be interesting. Most definitely indeed.

_**Concluding Thoughts:  
That ends Chapter Two of my story. I know to those who may be expecting a romantic interest to develop with Kyou soon; don't get your hopes too much. I want to develop the characters' personality and backstory before I do anything like relationships. Please, I would like to receive as much feedback as possible concerning this story. This is my first real story, and I would like to know how to improve my writing in any way possible. It does not matter if they are flames or praises, I want ANY and ALL feedback. Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 3!**_

**(1) I decided to change my name into a more Japanese form to better suit this fic. After re-reading this and thinking about it, it seemed to ruin the flow, having an American name as a transfer student. Kawazoe is my last name and Ichiro is my first name just in case anyone couldn't tell. **


	3. Chapter 3

Not So Alone

Chapter 3: A Confrontation and Surprise

**Disclaimer: I don't own Clannad. I know that already! You all should too! It depresses me just to even think of not owning something as awesome as Clannad, but Key and KyoAni are already doing a great job with the series, so I really can't complain. They just better be working on the Kyou OVA... *ahem***

**p**

"_Please I want to be your friend. It'd be pretty cool if we became friends, don't you think?"_

As that statement echoes in my head, I smile as I realize that not all people were a lost cause... I think back to my father who is probably still knocked out in the corner because of his drunken habits. If I became anything like him, it'd be completely unforgivable...

"Damned old man." I swore silently.

Before I knew it, I had found myself in front of my classroom again. Shaking my heads of all thoughts concerning my father, I slid open the door and walked as casual as possible back to my seat.

The multiple chatter of other students talking to their friends fill the room; I almost forget that this was a classroom for a second. Apparently, the teacher had already wrapped up his lecture for the period and was casually leaning his back against the chair, balancing it on two legs. He seemed pretty bored as he held a pen between his nose and lips, a very unusual sight for a teacher if you ask me.

With nothing better to do, I opted to just sit at my desk and catch a moment's rest. In no time at all, the bell rang, signaling the end of first period classes. I stood up from my desk and proceeded to walk out of the classroom. Next class was History. Bleh, it was not going to be interesting whatsoever. Well, I can look at the bright side of this; this is a prime opportunity to catch up on my sleep! With this set in mind, I walk towards the next class.

The next two periods after History sped by, mostly because I was sleeping through the monotonous lectures of the teacher. Somehow, I never seem to get caught, or the teachers never seem to care. Either way, I won out in the end, so no complaints on my end. Ichiro wasn't in any of my classes since Math nor did I run into him ever since we talked in the washroom, so it was actually kind of what I was used to before.

I was half-expecting Sunohara to show up around this time for lunch after 4th period; after all, his life is based on his primitive urges: food, girls, video games, and goofing off in general. Sunohara is my only friend that I've managed to keep since last year. Any other people that I used to be acquaintances with no longer associate with me. After all, who wants to stick too close to a person who is known to be a famous delinquent in this school? People are shallow, I swear.

I met Sunohara last year when he was brought in to the advisor's room the exact same time I did. After all, a delinquent like me is always being called there for constant minor offenses; it's really no surprise there. He, however, was called in for a different reason; he started a fight with the soccer team at this school. In more than one way, he's in the same boat as me. He even has a lower attendance rate than I do. To top it off, he's even more of an idiot than me. His main purpose is to entertain me whether he is aware of it or not. /p

(Line Break Here)

pAs I enter the cafeteria, a mob of students have already gathered where the lunch line begins. I often wonder how there can be so many students already in line when I make my way here immediately after class lets out; it's just one of those mysteries of life that can't be solved. At any rate, I feel discouraged of attempting to get any food with the horde of people fighting their way through each other, a demonstration of primitive behavior at its best. Wouldn't a psychologist have a field day with my school?

As I attempt to find a empty classroom to just be by myself, a pair of arms suddenly latch on to me and drag me into a room; I am temporarily disoriented by the sudden attack. As I gain my bearings again, I find myself in an empty classroom. What just happened?

"Wait, I sense another person here." I turn around and stare into a pair of purple eyes. My eyes widen and a sweat drops down the side of my face. Where the hell did she just come from? Furthermore, why is it just the two of us alone in a classroom? Just what in the world did I get myself into exactly...? If it wasn't for the fact that I had a confrontation with her earlier, I probably would've been happy with all this. I shudder.

She pins me against the wall inside the classroom as her face closely comes closer to mine. Her hair is hiding her eyes, so it's difficult to see what emotions are running through her. The atmosphere here is so tense and awkward that I even begin to shift uneasily. Her grip on my shoulders tighten slowly.

"What exactly did you mean earlier?" She asks quietly, as if to make sure no one else could hear us. I can see her mouth trembling slightly

"What are you talking about?" I ask uncertainly. I can just tell one wrong word can ignite this volatile situation, and that would most likely spell unnecessary injuries in my near future.

"Don't mess around! You know what I'm talking about, or would you rather have me refresh your memory?" she says as she brandishes her fist in front of my face for me to see.

"Doesn't it speak for itself?" I try to laugh it off. She forcefully slams my head against the wall.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?!" She yells a little bit louder. The back of my head is beginning to throb. There's sure to be a bump there later; I just know it. I look my assailant in the eyes... or rather, what represents her eyes. Her eyes were no longer normally recognizable as they were simply dots of menacing light, peering into the depths of my soul. This girl must be a demon or something.

"Calm down! You make it seem like you've never been complimented before!"

My eyes widen to what my statement implied. The last thing a girl, let alone an angry girl, wants to hear is a question of her beauty. It is an unspoken rule, and few guys have survived such a blunder. Crap, I never got to accomplish much in my life. I shut my eyes.

"..."

A few seconds pass.

"_Deja vu?_" No response. No yelling. Nothing but a deafening silence envelops the two of us. I warily open my eyes to see a very familiar sight; her face seems to be in shock and that blush I saw earlier slowly creeps up her face once again.

Her grip on me slightly slackens, and I immediately take this chance to escape from her monstrous iron grip. I look at her cautiously again, and she seems to be lost in her own world again. I'm not sure whether or not to escape with my life intact (twice in one day I'll let you know!) or to make sure she's okay. This girl is a really odd person.

"What are you doing now, Kyou?" An indifferent voice calls out as a someone's head pops from the classroom door. The girl next to me snaps out of her daze, and the two of us simultaneously turn to the source of the voice.

"Shana? What are you doing out here?" The girl next to me asks, trying to recompose herself and make herself look somewhat presentable.

"Looking for you..." The girl's fiery eyes glance at me. "And preventing unnecessary bloodshed."

I sweatdrop. Does my existence mean so little in people's eyes?

The girl next to me laughs nervously. "Shana, what in the world are you talking about? I was just simply talking to this guy. That's -"

"Drop the act, Kyou. You can fool anyone else **but **me. Besides, seeing you get so flustered over some guy is just getting annoying now." She bluntly bites back as she folds her arms across her chest.

The girl who came to be known as Kyou stays silent, offering no counter-response whatsoever. For someone that was so intimidating merely minutes ago, she seemed to be as harmless and normal as any other teenager girl right now. Hard to believe someone can actually put her in her place so easily... and this fiery girl is so short too.

"You." She turns to face me. I gulp involuntarily. "You're an eyesore. Get out of here."

_Twitch._ What gives her the right to say something like that? What the hell did I do?

"You've got some nerve-Oof!" She swiftly punches me in the stomach with no hesitation, almost as a reflex. I almost double over as I clutch my stomach with both of my hands. Damn, that was a hard hit...

"Don't make me repeat what I just said. Just do what I say." She states plainly, with no trace of emotion in her voice.

At first, Kyou simply watches indifferently at the turn of events unfolding right in front of her. Her eyes, however, betray her overall impression as concern eventually starts to seep into them. She attempts to stop her friend from doing any more unnecessary harm but is promptly pushed aside. Shana resolutely stands in front of me, ready for anything.

As soon as I recover, I glare at this barbaric girl for a few moments; she glares back, showing no signs of backing down. If this continues as it is, things may not turn out so well on my part. But, I can't let things stay the way they are; there's no way I'd take all this sitting down. I stand back on my own two feet and ready myself for a fight, if need be.

The overall tension generated between the two of us fills the air around us. The glint in her eyes and that smirk on her face irks me to no end; I wanted to scrub that snide smirk off her face. At this rate, a fight seems inevitable. As I was about ready to spring at her, I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder; I glance back to see none other than Kawazoe Ichiro, smiling that damned smile of his.

"Shana, don't you think you're taking things a bit too far?" He questions in a direct fashion.

"Ichiro, must you get in the way now? Things were starting to become interesting. Let me have a little fun at least; this school is just too boring." She almost pleads to him.

"I thought that moving here would at least make things a little bit more interesting for you at the very least. Am I not enough?" He asks in mock despair.

"No, no, it's not that at all. It's just he pisses me off." She points to me.

I'm being made a fool by her. This is frustrating. These two are carrying on a conversation as if no one else was around. Furthermore, they seem to be familiar with each other.

Confused, I intervene into their conversation. "Wait, wait. You two know each other??"

"Of course. We're dating." He simply says, as if it was clear as day.

"You're dating that savage of a girl??" I ask without thinking.

A punch is swiftly thrown at me from Shana's right hand., only to have it deflected by Ichiro's left hand. He holds her hand in place, and I can tell Shana is beginning to blush. Her eyes widening, she quickly retracts her hand back and looks down to the ground in embarrassment.

"Yes, I am. She's usually not this hostile, and she's usually quite caring and sweet." He replies in a carefree manner while rubbing the back of his head.

"Urusai! Urusai! Urusai! Stop saying such embarrassing things to other people!!" If it wasn't possible before, Shana's face begins to glow even a brighter red.

"Shana..." Ichiro approaches Shana. "What happened to your beautiful black hair I saw this past winter?"

"I dyed it red. I wanted a different look. That's all. Can we stop talking about this?" She really looks uncomfortable with this conversation. She's fidgeting her hands and can't seem to stand still. I wonder why?

At this moment, the bell resounded loudly throughout the hallway, signaling the end of lunch period. I breathe a sigh of relief; it seems this confrontation, or whatever this was, was going to be postponed. Hopefully, indefinitely. Thank God, I was getting lost trying to figure out heads or tails of this entire situation. Ichiro gave a hug to Shana, who was muttering something that I

couldn't understand. Whatever she said made Ichiro smile brightly and hugged her a little tighter.

"_Huh, that's cute. Wait, what's with the split personalities that all these people have?_" These people are making my life much more complicated than it's ever been before. It's so troublesome

that I want nothing to do with this, but at this rate, it may not look I have a say in the matter whatsoever.

"You." I hear a voice call out to me; it was Kyou. "What's your name?" She seems to be

somewhat back to normal; at least, she doesn't look like she wants to murder me on sight, like she used to. Her entire body seemed a little stiff, and she had a hard time maintaining eye contact. Traces of the previous blush were still there, though not as prominent as earlier.

"Okazaki." I reply. "Okazaki Tomoya."

She seems to be in thought, as if trying to remember something. She stays like this for a

couple of moments before her eyes light up, showing that something clicked in her head.

"You're that famous delinquent, aren't you?" She remarks.

"_Great, I guess it's to be expected. My reputation seems to precede me, no matter who hears about it._" I facepalm.

"Yeah... that's me." I utter hesitatingly. I braced myself for another rejection, but the next words that came out of her completely caught me off guard.

"Oh. You don't seem that bad as people have made you out to be." My eyes widened. "Yeah, you're rude and aren't that smart." My shoulder drooped. "But then again, you're a guy, what's there to expect?" Too good to be true huh?

"... Should I even take that as a compliment?" I wonder.

"Take it however you want." She gives me a curt smile as she responds cheekily. Her eyes

softly shut as she tilted her head to the side.

"Whatever. I'm out of here. This is just nonsense." Exasperated, I leave the classroom and

head torwards my 5th period class. After all, hanging around here is just going to give me more of a headache; plus, people and their bipolarity are really beginning to piss me off. /p

(Line Break Here)

pUpon getting to the classroom, I headed straight to my desk, not giving a single glance to anyone else in the room. As soon as I sat down, I could tell my body didn't want to move at all; my body seemed to shut down, and I felt it was too much to ask to even make an effort to sit up straight. Kyou came in shortly after I settled in my seat; she gave a glance in my direction and sat down herself. It was only a matter of minutes after until the teacher came in and started taking roll; without hesitating for one second, he started his lecture in earnest.

After what happened during lunch, there was no way I could even bring myself to pay attention during my last two classes. So much had happened and there were way too much information to take in as a result; the teacher's droning voice made it even more difficult to even stay awake, let alone pretending to be awake. It's probably best just to try to sleep away this annoying headache. I put my head on my arms and drift off to sleep. Of course, someone up there hates me...

"Okazaki! You're not falling asleep in my class, are you?!" The teacher yells.

"You're too loud... Mind keeping it down?" I mumble out loud.

"AH? What did you say?" He yells back.

I drowsily propped my head up and tried to look at the teacher as best as I could. My head suddenly started throbbing; I think back to what happened earlier.

"_That damned Kyou, slamming my head against the wall... What the hell was up with her anyways?_" I glared at Kyou unconciously. She didn't seem to notice whatsoever.

"Okazaki!" I snapped my head to the front of the classroom. "Would you so kindly repeat what you just said?" The teacher seethed.

"Nothing." I wave my hand to dismiss him. Getting into a fight with a teacher is the last thing I want to do, especially now of all times. "Don't mind me."

"That's what I thought you said." He turned around to continue writing down more notes on the chalkboard.

As the lecture dragged on towards the end of fifth period, I could feel my vision getting fuzzy. It's getting hard to stay conscious as time presses forward. Another wave of pain plagues the back of my head; I instinctively touch the back of my head. There's something wet... I look at my hand: blood. There's blood on my hand.

"_This isn't good._" The last thing I see is falling to the floor and hearing the voices of people around me yell in surprise.

"Tomoya!" Especially one voice in particular. /p

_**Concluding Thoughts:**_

_To anyone who may not have caught the slight reference to another anime character in the last chapter or even the obvious clues this chapter, I am using Shana from Shakugan no Shana. To those who haven't heard of it, you really should give it a look. I don't own her in any way, but I've always wanted to use Shana in one of my stories. Also, I'm not having a crossover in any way, so no worries about that. _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, once again, feel free to leave comments of any kind, flame or not, so I can better my abilities as a writer._


	4. Darkness & Perpetuated Misunderstanding

Not So Alone

Chapter 4: Darkness and A Perpetuated Misunderstanding

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Clannad. Should a momentous miracle ever happen, I would probably die happy. **

_**Authors Note: Sorry for the extremely long wait. I'm not abandoning this fic; I promise that to all of you. I just lost a lot of inspiration and had a lot of stuff happen to me lately. I've done a lot of soul searching, and I finally have regained the will to write again. As all of you may or may not know, this fic was born out of a rivalry I had with my friend,Dragonshaun9, and was only meant to be written to see who could gather more reviews/views in the Clannad fanfic section... (his story is I Will Go to You.) now, I see that people actually truly enjoy this story and I will definitely do my best to meet all of your standards. **_

_The last thing I see is falling to the floor and hearing the voices of people around me yell in surprise._

"Tomoya!" _Especially one voice in particular._

Darkness. All that surrounds me is darkness. It's all that I've known as far back as I can remember. Not a trace of life survives in this empty void; no light shines in this perpetual darkness. Yet, all that remains is myself, aimlessly wandering for a way out of this nightmarish hell. All I can hear is my breathing and my thoughts running wildly in my head. I futilely scream, hoping someone or something will hear me. However, now, I've lost my voice; I've learned far too long ago that there is nothing to rely on, no one to trust. It's where I realized that my life was slowly going to end up in an eventual dead end, no matter how hard I tried to oppose it. Because of this, I've lost all motivation to live on, to make something of myself; I only simply just exist.

The only reason that I haven't immersed myself in the darkness completely is because of my father. Every time I feel like letting go and letting the darkness consume me entirely, the image of my father smiling faintly at me comes to view. It's not because he's a positive reason why I'm still sane; rather, it's quite the opposite. I promised to myself a long time ago that I would never let myself sink to his level; strangely enough, that's the only thing I will give my father gratitude for, even if he did raise me.

However, it's been sixteen years of enduring this, and a person has its limits, even me. There really is no hope for me, and fighting this seemingly inevitable fate just takes more energy than I would like. The darkness that always surrounds me creeps closer, knowing the weakness in my mind. I sigh silently to myself and finally resign myself to whatever will happen next. The darkness begins to envelop my legs and my arms, moving their way up towards my body. It's a strange sensation; I almost feel at peace, but I can't still shake the shred of terror I still feel. It's not like it matters anymore. Soon, I won't feel anymore suffering and I can just finally let go. As I close my eyes, I catch a light flickering in the distance.

"_Huh? That's new._" As if I'm drawn in by some unknown force, I draw closer to this mesmerizing sight. I feel that my body has a mind of its own; I can't stop walking towards that mysterious light. I'm no longer in control of my own body anymore, and I can't help but feel uncertain with what might happen as I come closer with each step. The darkness that has managed to grab a hold of me struggles to latch onto me, but with each second I come closer to the light, the darkness loses its hold on me little by little.

Now, I stand in front of this strange sight. My hand slowly stretches out to reach towards this strange orb of light. I manage to grab onto it, expecting some kind of shock. Yet, nothing happened; all that I feel is the warmth radiating from it. I can actually lose myself in this warmth because it's something I've never experienced before.

All of a sudden, the darkness throws itself onto me in an attempt to absorb me, but at the same time, the orb started glowing a deep purple and burst out in flames. My entire body remained frozen, unable to move whatsoever. The darkness around me shrinks away, afraid of the light for some reason. The darkness hisses, unable to do anything but continue to retreat from me. I can't help but wonder what is going on...

"Tomoya! Wake up!" A voice invades this empty space. The light seems to expand rapidly as it covers the entire area, blinding me in the process. I shut my eyes, trying to block out the light, but it doesn't seem to do anything at all.

My eyes snap open. I can see colors, though they are blending together, making it difficult to distinguish one thing from another. I hear murmurs of voices around me, but I can't seem to pick out anyone's in particular. I can see a splash of purple in front of me, but it's awfully difficult to tell what that is. My eyes close again, willing my eyesight to clear up. When I open my eyes again, the first thing I can clearly see is the ceiling and the hanging light fixtures; faces of people slowly come into focus around the edges of my vision. The cold sensation of the floor covers the entire length of my back.

Taking all this into consideration, it would be safe to assume that I somehow collapsed; though at the moment, I don't remember all too clearly why. All that registers in my head is that I'm on the floor; people are staring at me with mixed emotions; and I have this splitting migraine that doesn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon. As soon as people noticed that I had finally come to, everyone seemed to focus on me.

"Will all of you quit staring and tell me why I'm on the floor?" I grumble softly. No change in expression on anyone's faces. This is kind of embarrassing but leaning towards annoying as times ticks along.

"Hello? Anyone want to answer my question, or am I really that fascinating?" I repeat. This time, people are looking at each other, obviously unaware of what could have caused everything that took place here.

I hear a door open, and I could barely raise my head in time to see a flash of purple run out the door. I let my head drop, hitting my head on the floor a little too hard, and sending a wave of pain down my entire body; I cringe slightly as a result. I let my entire body relax as I try to will this pain away.

"Okazaki-san?" A voice calls out; I turn my head to face the person talking to me.

"Ichiro? What are you doing here?" As best as I can remember, he wasn't in my Psychology class... at least as far as I can remember.

"There was quite the commotion going on in here that I can hear an uproar from the hallway. I was kind of curious, so I decided to take a look..." A pause. Something told me there was something else; his eyes gave off the impression. "That... and I saw Kyou running out in a panic, though I don't know why."

"_Kyou?_" So, it was her that I saw running out the door after all; my eyes weren't playing tricks on me after all. I chose to stay silent rather than say anything at all. It would probably be better that way, at least for now.

"Okazaki. What happened here?" I see the teacher looming over me. There is a look of a genuine concern covering his entire face and a neutral professional expression mixed together.

"Ah, I must've hit my head too hard when I fell down the stairs earlier today. Don't worry about it; I'll just make my way to the nurse's office. I don't want to get in the way of the class." Though, I know inside that I probably shattered any shard of concentration in everyone's mind for today.

I get to my feet, my legs wobbling a little bit as I stand up. I hastily grab onto my desk for support; my body is just really unstable right now. I unsteadily make my way to the door, and several people even offered to help me to the nurses' office. Ironic the only reason they even offered to help is because I was in some trouble. As I slide the door open, I run into a person standing outside the door: Kyou.

"Kyou?" I inquire softly. I'm still a bit shaken from what just happened, and I find it hard to believe that Kyou, of all people, would be panicking over me.

"Tomoya." She mutters in reply as she avoids eye contact with me whatsoever. She seems disgruntled on the surface but a little bit relieved on the inside it seems. We say nothing more as an awkward silence begins to form. We hear someone clear their throat, and the two of us look to see the nurse standing right next to the doorway.

"Okazaki-san. I heard from Fujibayashi-san what happened to you, so I came to get you and check up on you. Shall we be on our way?" Her glasses glint. I couldn't help but feel unnerved a little bit by the presence of the nurse. I dumbly nodded my head without much thought. She turns around, and as I started to follow the nurse back to her office, a voice timidly speaks out.

"Um." The nurse and I turn around. Kyou fidgets a little as she tries to ask a question: "Would it matter if I went along too? There are some things I need to talk to Okazaki about." The nurse seemed rather indifferent and shrugged her shoulders.

"Go ahead. You might need to get permission from your teacher though. Considering the given circumstances, I'm sure you won't find it too hard to." She turns forward and begins to walk again. I share a glance with Kyou for a little bit before the two of us went our separate ways.

* * *

As I walk in silence, the nurse decides to speak. "So, what happened back there? Bleeding on the back of your head, did you already get into a fight on the first day of school?" It shouldn't be much of a surprise that even the nurse knows about me. After all, my reputation as the famous delinquent precedes me.

"Ah, not really. Just fell and tripped down the stairs and hit my head, that's all." I reply back as nonchalantly as possible.

The nurse gave me a once over skeptically and was about to say something, but she decided not to at the last second. I breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that she wasn't going to pursue this matter any further. It'd be somewhat difficult to explain exactly what occurred about an hour ago after all.

At the nurse's office, I'm sitting on a chair while the nurse examines the back of my head; I can feel my entire head pulsing the entire time, making the entire experience drag all the more. All that I want is this day to end already. I let my eyes wander around the room in an attempt to take my mind off the pain and this dull examination. My eyes eventually fall on an opening door and a slightly disheveled Kyou standing in the doorway.

Our eyes meet for only an instant but probably to us an eternity. She calmly walked into the room and closed the door behind her before sitting down across from me. An awkward silence that had disappeared before had once again surfaced between us. It has always seemed like this ever since that incident earlier today; then again, I don't necessarily find all that hard to believe, given what _did _take place. We can never maintain eye contact for longer than a second, if that. With what little eye contact, I could tell that the anger that I saw earlier today was no longer there, but rather, it seemed there was a hint or remorse/regret hidden behind her eyes. Now, a violent girl like her showing regret...? Nah, that didn't seem possible.

At that time, as if she somehow read my mind, her face contorted into an angry expression. My eyes widened in surprised and tried to futilely shut off all my thoughts out of fear. But, as quickly as that expression appeared, it quickly dissipated, and all that remained was a seemingly somber disposition written all over her face.

The nurse must have obviously noticed the odd silence settling in the atmosphere because she cleared her throat to gain our attention.

"Okazaki-kun, I know for a fact that a trip down the stairs did not cause this type of an injury. I've played along this long, but I grow tired of this. Obviously, this has something to do with Fujibayashi-san considering she is here right now and even took the liberty to ask permission from the teacher to accompany us here."

We grow silent as the nurse continued.

"Certainly, she does not do something like this on a normal day, and with the look of guilt in her downcast eyes, it further solidifies the fact that she is indeed involved. Not to mention the fact that the two of you, two of the most energetic students in the entire school, are reflectively silent as if someone died in front of you. Now, 'fess up and come clean or shall I call in the Dean?"

"_Seriously. Why is she a nurse when she acts like a psychologist/counselor?_" Our faces seem to say that. Well, it's not exactly we can keep things under wraps, not under those hawk-like eyes. Her glasses glint once again, giving off a somewhat menacing impression; we involuntarily gulp. We dumbly nod our heads together.

It took around 15 minutes to explain in detail what exactly went down between us earlier today. The nurse didn't say or do anything at all except nod her head at times, and her silence seriously unnerved us. After finishing telling the story, we waited for some sort of rebuke or criticism. The pause that only lasted several seconds felt like an eternity. A smile began to creep on her face which completely took us by surprise.

"Ah, I see. A lover's spat, huh?" I fell over, and Kyou tried to protest to no avail. The nurse seemed to smirk at the two sight of us.

"Are you kidding me?! Why would I like this idiot that has an existence smaller than a water flea?!" Kyou yelled out.

"Who are you calling an idiot that has a small- wait, what did you just say?!" I honestly wasn't expecting such a detailed insult, to that extent even.

"You have ears, right? Try using them once in a while! I don't feel like I need to repeat myself to the likes of you!" An instant follow-through with no mercy.

"That's something that someone shouldn't be saying to someone who bashed their head into the wall!"

"How about I peel off your fingernails one by one the next time around?" What a scary thing to say, and she said it with a straight face so easily too. I involuntarily shudder.

"Alright, alright. That's far enough out of the two of you." The nurse, who was quietly watching this entire conversation unfold, decided to stop this escalating situation before things got too far.

"It's apparent you two have issues that the two of you need to deal with personally. However, I refuse to let an incident like what happened earlier occur again." Kyou's eyes look to the ground. "Fujibayashi Kyou-san, I expect you to act accordingly as a class representative and a member of the Student Council. I feel like your recent behavior lately is taking things far out of proportion, but this is strictly my belief and mine alone. I will let you two have some time alone to sort through the variety of issues that the two of you must talk through. Now, I will take my leave." Her tone left no room to protest or argue with her, so we just remained silent as we heard the door slide open and slowly close.

With the nurse no longer in the room, I feared for the back of my mind. A guy like me alone with a violent girl like her... This may be the last day of my life after all.

"Eh... Tomoya?"

There was so much I wanted to do with my life. Ah, what the heck am I talking about? I just don't want to die at such a young age.

"Tomoya?"

I can see the headlines right now: "High school boy mysteriously murdered in nurse's office in broad daylight." Ah, man, seriously, why me? What did I do to deserve this? This is pathetic I gott-

"Tomoya!" I feel a fist abruptly connect with the back of my head. Feelings of anger well up within me.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?! You trying to kill me?! I knew you were such a violent-"

Slap! Everything seemed to go slow motion. With her arm extended from slapping me, her hair seemed to float, and her eyes seemed more defined more than anything in the room. Rather, it seemed all I could focus on was her eyes: filled with malice, filled with anger, and filled with... hurt?

"..." A moment of silence followed that seemed to last for several hours rather than a few seconds. I don't think either of us knew what to say, but Kyou broke the silence.

"I don't know why you're such a jerk, Tomoya." A sharp pain. "I don't know why I believed you weren't what others said about you." Another sharp pain rips through me. "Perhaps they were right about you after all." I grip my chest tightly and my eyes refuse to make any contact with any part of her. "Sorry for earlier. Good-bye."She promptly got up from her chair and left the room. I could hear running footsteps fade away.

I wanted to say something, but no words would come out. I wanted to chase after her, but my feet were locked in place, as if I was bound to the bed by some unknown invisible force. It actually hurt not to be able to speak or chase her; this sensation I was feeling was far too foreign for me to recognize or even identify. All I could do was just sit here in silence, alone with myself and my thoughts, hating myself, hating myself and hating myself.

I don't even know how long it's been since she left the room. I've lost all sense of time and all sense of logic. My chest hasn't stopped hurting ever since she left, and this pain felt significantly worse compared to my head wound. I shouldn't be upset this much; I never have in the past. I thought I was able to bear anything that anyone could say; I thought I was stronger than this to be affected by something petty that someone said.

"_I don't know why you're such a jerk, Tomoya._"

I've heard that statement so many times from so many people, yet why am I being upset about it being said to me again? Why her? Something about her saying that to me just makes my stomach turn over. I really don't want to think about this because thinking anymore on this is just making my head hurt enough as it is.

I simply fall back onto the bed and proceed to stare at the ceiling meaninglessly. A nap right now wouldn't be too bad of an idea. Perhaps, my mind will be cleared up when I wake up. As fatigue begins to settle in and as my adrenaline begins to fade, one thought crosses my mind: "Too much has happened for only the first day of school; tell me why did I have to get out of bed today again?"


End file.
